Comments

Evidently Editor B simply loaded the file into an editing program and stretched it out by 800%, thereby canceling out the compression factor.

On the air, I had suggested that if Beatles fans wanted the entire Beatles catalog for free, that they were welcome to decompress the file and chop it up into dozens of three-minute tracks. However, the results -- as shown to us by Editor B -- can be somewhat different than the originals!!!

About Magical Mystery Tour...
It is on 2 ep's. I listened to my copy earlier today in honor of Lennon's birthday.
If you notice on the U.S. release, the page numbers don't match up with the comments in the booklet. This is because side 2 of the LP was made up of songs that had not been released in the U.S., where they had been previously released in the U.K.
I know, I've spent too much time collecting Beatle music...

OK, now, 'fess up...who actually listened to the whole hour and ENJOYED it? What's the point? If I want a similar experience, I can play a Beatles CD on my player and hit the play/fast forward button. Not that exhilirating. In essence: Big Fucking Deal.

Thanks for posting this, Kenny. I've added one more track, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, which has the virtue of showcasing different decompression effects in its different parts.

You can get it here:
http://b.rox.com/2007/09/27/slowness/

Also, last year a co-worker of mine had a CD with the entire Beatles catalog as one giant WAV file. I guess that was making the round of the darknet. Audio quality not so good but still kinda cool to have all in one place. I wonder if that was the source material for "Run for Your Life"?

Editor B: I didn't use that WAV, I just downloaded their catalog via this torrent:
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3664488/The_Ultimate_BEATLES_Torrent_(Complete_Discography_-_MP3)

Then I used the handy little app iTunesJoin to make each album into a single file, sped them up separately, and connected. Incidentally, I couldn't find any Mac software that speeds files up with a reasonable degree of accuracy (that is, preserving fine details -- not chopping out huge chunks). After trying Soundtrack Pro, Ableton, Audacity, and Soundbooth with disappointing results, I booted Windows and Adobe Audition worked like a charm.

Good! Let's hope no-one get's sued like Gnarls Barkley's DJ Dangermouse for the "Grey Album". Beatles aside, this just shows what can and should be done with earlier music, which should belong to all of us once it's been released into the public domain and the original artist has made some money. It allows everyone after to be creative, and forces those before not to be lazy.